1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a connector formed with individual contact elements and in one aspect to a connector for use with electronic cable components with closely spaced conductors, where the conductors are positioned on 0.025 inch (0.63 mm) centers, to form a cable termination socket or header.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Cable terminations for flat cable are well known and it is typical to connect the individual wires of such a cable to individual contact elements in an insulative housing. The contacts typically have an end portion formed to make electrical contact with the individual wires in the cable. A cap is then placed onto the housing to maintain the wires in contact with the contact elements. This construction is illustrated in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,434,093 and 3,444,506 illustrating solderless flat cable wire connectors. Alternatively, the junction between the wire of the flat cable and the contact element can be encapsulated by molding directly over the junctions as illustrated in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,030,799 and 4,094,564.
As the spacing for the wires in the flat cable become increasingly smaller, i.e. from 0.05 inch centers for 22 to 24 gauge wire to 0.0425 and 0.0250 inch on 28 or 30 gauge solid copper wire it becomes increasingly difficult to obtain connections and reduced width elements, and to handle the elements. One solution was to provide a contact having reduced over-all width as is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 3,930,708. The elements as disclosed in this patent however did not provide as economical a connector as afforded by the present invention since more material and more handling was necessary to form the connectors.
The next improvement in the connector for closely spaced wires in a flat cable is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 4,009,922. This patent teaches a structure wherein the insulating body of the connector is formed with wire support surfaces which undulate to provide a lower wire support channel associated with one contact element, between two upper wire support surfaces. This structure affords contact of alternate wires with contact elements in alternate rows of contacts and provides sufficient space between the wires and contacts to avoid cross talk.
The difficulty however with this structure, when working with flat cable having wire of 30 to 34 gauge, is that the contact elements become very difficult to handle in the manufacture of the connectors. The present invention is directed at a product which provides electrical contacts in a form which may be readily handled and which afford the manufacture of substantially any shape or style of connector to meet the customer requirements. The connector may be a termination socket or header. The contact of the present invention affords the manufacture of connectors having two or more rows of contact elements and for use as a termination for flat cables of 10 to 100 wires with wires or with contacts closely spaced, e.g., on 0.0250 inch to 0.02 inch spacings. The contact of the present invention is provided with the spring compression reserve contact elements disposed in rows and joined with the wire positioning surfaces spaced to afford good electrical contact and avoid cross talk, voltage breakdown and shorting.